Noelle Kirchner

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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

If you watched my interview with the New York Times bestselling author Dr. Leonard Sax, or if you are curious as to what his book is about and how it connects to faith, I invite you to watch my most recent sermon:

Dr. Sax is the author of The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups. He is a graduate of MIT who earned his MD and PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. His book is based upon over 90,000 office visits as a board-certified family physician, and the data he’s gathered by speaking with children, parents, and school administrators from around the world. His data has led him to one conclusion: We are witnessing the full-blown collapse of parenting today. He cites rising anxiety, depression, obesity, medication, and dropout rates in children, for instance. Meanwhile, American schools and job placement rates are slipping in international rankings. Each of these effects can be statistically traced back to diluted parental authority, Dr. Sax argues. He offers parents a lifeline into how to counter culture's current trend and safeguard the future success of their families. Faith offers parents an additional lifeline to Dr. Sax's research too — watch to find out how!

Local friends, I'm preaching this Sunday evening, 5/6, at 5 PM at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit! I'll be continuing Central's "Book and a Bible" sermon series by talking about living our life purpose. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Watch the newest episode special of my parenting TV series, Chaos to Calm, now! I sit down with Dr. Leonard Sax, the New York Times bestselling author of The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups. Dr. Sax bases his book on over 90,000 office visits as a board-certified family physician, his conversations with parents, school administrators, and students from around the world as a sought-after speaker, and scientific data. In this interview, you'll hear him address topics such as:

What is true success?

What can parents do to enable true success in their children?

What are the warning signs of where parents are going wrong?

If you live in the Summit, NJ area, you can watch this interview by tuning into HomeTowne TV. It is being broadcast to over a half a million homes through the Verizon/33 and Comcast/36 channels. Showtimes are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3 pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am; and Sundays at 7 pm and 9:30 pm until mid-May. All times are EST. For those who are not local or who want to watch on demand:

I can't wait for you to see it! Thank you for your support, and I hope you find this information as helpful as I did! Stay tuned for my faith-based response to Dr. Sax's book in my on demand sermon, which is coming soon!

Monday, April 9, 2018

For Dr. Leonard Sax, the parenting
command has been replaced by a question mark today. In his recent New York Times bestseller, The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our
Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups, the effects of diluted parental
authority are sweeping. He cites rising anxiety, depression, dropout, obesity,
and medication rates in children, for instance. Meanwhile, American schools,
patent rates, and job placement statistics are plummeting in international
rankings. In other words, we’re in trouble.These
effects are so sweeping because the current vacuum of healthy authority doesn’t
stop with parents — it’s also spilling over into our schools and faith-based
institutions. As a result, culture’s “Live for Now” mentality is going largely
unchallenged, children are increasingly looking to their peers rather than to adults
for approval, and parents are prone to preparing their children simply for more
school, rather than life. In response to this collapse, Dr. Sax argues for a
healthy reassertion of parental authority so that children can get the very
things they might not even know they’re hungry for — grounding, humility, and
most importantly, valuable character building.This week,
I’m delighted to interview Dr. Sax in a HomeTowne TV episode special for Chaos to Calm. Join me in
understanding how we can navigate this concerning parenting dilemma with
practical tips from an expert. Dr. Sax is a father, board-certified family
physician, psychologist, and research-based author of several books who has
been on multiple national media news outlets. You can watch this Chaos to Calm episode late month on
demand via my blog or on HomeTowne TV (Channel 33/Verizon and 36/Comcast) in NJ.Also, I will be preaching on Dr. Sax’s book this Sunday, April 15, at the contemporary WAVE worship service at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, NJ, where I am Parish Associate. Local friends, please come to the auditorium at 5 PM and bring a friend! And stay tuned for the on demand link to watch the sermon here as well. You will not want to miss out on Dr. Sax's wisdom. It has deeply impacted my parenting!My post will also appear on Central Church's website this week.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Happy Easter! I'm delighted to announce the winner of contest for the NIV Beautiful Word Bible this week! The lucky winner is Laura B. of New Jersey! So grateful for her support and readership, along with the many other ladies who registered — thank you! Contest entrants will be automatically added to my listserv, so watch for that email this week.

Also, don't forget to stay tuned on the blog this month for an exciting interview with NYT bestselling author Dr. Leonard Sax on his newest book, The Collapse of Parenting. I will also preach on his book as part of the Book and a Bible series currently underway at my church. Both the interview and sermon will be available on demand here!

Thursday, March 29, 2018

It's that time again. Every year, I like to give away faith-building resources for Easter. This year, I'm offering you one of my new favorites! I even asked a friend to help me vet it. One lucky winner will win their free copy!

Resource to Win:

The NIV Beautiful Word Bible for Girls: This is my new favorite Bible! As my friend with three daughters agrees, it's for older girls (think 8 and up) and women. From it's modern, beautiful illustrations to it's space for note taking in the margins, this Bible is one you can enjoy and grow with. I will treasure mine. Note: The pages are so beautiful that my friend's daughters wanted to tear them out, so they resorted to bookmarks lol!

Resources for All Ages:

God's Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible by Rick Warren, based upon The Purpose Driven Life: This Bible reads more like a devotional, and it's my new favorite in that genre for children. It walks sequentiality through the Bible in a thoughtful way and is interactive. At the end of each entry, readers are encouraged to "think, remember, and question" something having to do with the lesson.The Adventure Bible: Book of Daring Deeds and Epic Creations. This book contains 60 faith-building activities for children. Some are simple and intuitive, some are creative and/or take more preparation. This book is an excellent resource for children's sermons or everyday teaching moments with our children.

Resources for Young Boys (3-5 years old):

May the Faith Be with You Devotional. This book contains 180 devotions. I found the devotions to be rather short and simple, but this might be just the trick with fidgety young boys!

May the Faith Be with You Bedtime Prayers. This is a board book with a glow-in-the-dark cover that's filled with short, rhyming prayers for younger children. That being said, there is one prayer that I want to teach to my older boys because it's easy to remember and rely on. It is a prayer to trust God, and it's beautiful:

When I am scared or feeling sadOr don't know what to do,I turn to God in prayer and say,"I put my trust in you."Deep in my heart, I know I am As loved as I can be.With God, I am never alone.He watches over me.

Enter to win your FREE BIBLE by clicking here. All entrants must have a US street address, no PO Boxes, for shipping purposes please. I will chose and announce the winner on Easter! Good luck! And thank you to Zonderkidz, the children's Christian publisher, for supplying me with copies of these resources to read and review!

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

New York
Times bestselling author
Leonard Sax is coming to the set of Chaos to Calm this April!

Dr.
Leonard Sax is a practicing physician, psychologist, and speaker for community
groups and schools. He is the author of Why
Gender Matters, Boys Adrift, Girls on Edge, and his newest title, The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our
Kids When We Treat Them like Grown-Ups. In the latter, Dr. Sax documents a
pervasive youth culture of disrespect and how the erosion of parental authority
is deeply hurting the success and well-being of our children.

I am honored to be interviewing Dr. Sax on The
Collapse of Parenting at the HomeTowne TV studio for a Chaos to Calm episode special! Chaos
to Calm is my parenting TV series on hot topics which shot seven episodes
last year. The series continues through episode specials like this one, which
will air in late April on HomeTowne TV in New Jersey (Channel 33/Verizon and 36/Comcast). It
will also be available for on demand viewing via YouTube; click here to see past episodes.

I will be preaching on my interview with Dr. Sax on April 15th
at the contemporary WAVE service at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, NJ, where I am Parish Associate. The service will take place at 5 PM in the auditorium and will
include a meal along with special crafts for children. WAVE is a unique
intergenerational service where children and adults worship together and enjoy
contemporary music along with a relevant message to today’s culture. This service will be available to watch on demand — stay tuned here for the link!

Preaching
on Dr. Sax’s book is a continuation of WAVE’s Book and a Bible series. For past sermons, click here and here. Future preaching dates and topics are included below. All services are at 5 PM for local friends and will be televised through HomeTowne TV and available for online viewing through my website:

May
6 — I will be preaching on Parker Palmer’s acclaimed
book Let Your Life Speak. The sermon
will focus on his hard-won advice on the why and how of living your life
purpose.

June
3 — I will be preaching on New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst’s newest book, Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less
Than, Left Out, and Lonely. The sermon series will be concluding with this
book by an author who wears her heart on her sleeve and is an expert in
relatable, applicable wisdom sayings — don’t miss it!Note: Stay tuned next week for a special Easter giveaway for children's faith resources, an annual tradition on the blog thanks to the publisher Zonderkidz!